Theorem

An unnamed guest arrives at a wealthy family's house in Milan. He has a relationship with each of them in turn, from the maid to the father, and then leaves on the strength of a telegram. None of them knows what to do with what is left, and each goes off in a different direction. The film does not build this psychologically; the guest, never explained, works as a test, and the narrative measures how much weight the bourgeois family can bear. Pier Paolo Pasolini wrote and directed. Terence Stamp plays the guest. The film was prosecuted for obscenity in Italy and acquitted. Who it's for: those who like allegorical cinema with little dialogue. Who it's not for: viewers wanting explanation; the film answers none of its own questions.